Hush
by LeSnuffles
Summary: Sometimes, your voice wasn't meant to be heard. [Self-Insert OC]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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**Chapter 1**

**To Start Anew**

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Bliss.

It was such a blissful feeling.

As if my body was floating in the mercy of the gentle breeze. It was so warm. Such a comforting pace, indeed. I felt as if I was still back at home, listening to my mother's gentle lullabies, her fingers plucking each string of a harp in a fluid and graceful motion.

Home… to me, it was a word that was so distant, yet so near. A word that had countless meanings. A place where my family waits for me.

Family… I wonder how they are now. Mother must be grief-stricken. I don't blame her. I, as well, was shocked when I realized my predicament. Who would've thought that I would die in such an unlikely manner?

It must be terrible for her. I want to tell her and comfort her, but I can't. I'm already dead. There is nothing I or my mother can do about it. Will it for me to somehow return to the living, but it will never happen. Such is the fate of a foolish person like me.

Ah well, I supposed it wasn't all that bad. I've done everything I can in my life. I've satisfied myself and everyone around me. I've done everything I could ever dream or want. I accomplished my goals, and made wonderful friends and experiences lovely things along with them.

To most, death is feared, for it marked the end of life. But for me, it marked a beginning. Of course, people around me would think of me as naïve and foolish, having such positive thoughts under… abnormal circumstances.

But for me, I see death as nothing but a thrill. I admit I am a special kind of idiot; an idiot who thinks everything positively until the bitter end. How can I not? If I think negativity, I will most likely end up insane. Thinking logically will make me sound like a know-it-all, and I certainly do not want to be known as one.

Funny how death feels like. It's as if I am in slumber, but at the same time, I am fully conscious and aware of what was happening around me. I had no senses, yet I still felt something around me, embracing me with its warmth.

How long did I stay there, cooped up in my own little world? How long did I remain calm and in denial of what was happening? Nobody can answer. But there was one thing I was sure of.

When a powerful force pushed my being downwards, squeezing me tight and pushing me down a small tunnel, I knew that the pain was real. I felt as if my being was being cramped into a small tunnel, which almost seemed impossible for me to get through. Yet the force didn't stop. I was pushed, and pushed, and pushed until the pain was unbearable.

I could not see, because it seemed like someone had taped my eyelids shut. I only relied on my other senses; hearing and feeling.

I felt warm cloth wrap around me, and I heard pants and gasps nearby. My whole being felt icky and slimy, which I didn't fancy at all.

It was a huge question to why I can actually feel when I'm not supposed to, since I died before. So I was confused. How can this be possible?

A little voice in my head answered for me, and I was shocked. But eventually, and after some time to get used to it, the answer to my question seemed more and more impossible and unbelievable. Yet, it still seems the most likely thing to happen to me.

It seemed like the god of death didn't appreciate me enjoying myself, so I guess he wanted me to repeat my life all over again and torment me because I found myself in the worst situation anyone could ever be placed up in.

I was reincarnated.

I was reborn.

* * *

I must've been a strange baby towards my new parents. I mean, wouldn't you find it strange if your infant child would laugh and cry and the most auspicious moments in your everyday life, for no absolute reason?

You couldn't blame me for acting like a complete mental case. I had a huge nervous breakdown after realizing my predicament. No one should be able to comprehend this type of situation without at least freaking out.

If you know me, when I try to cope with a sudden change, I usually go bipolar about it. One minute, I would be crying and sulking about the cons in a corner, holding a panda bear. The next, I would be freaking ecstatic about the situation and become a happy unicorn about it and be freaking farting rainbows.

How? How did this happen? I didn't do anything to piss the death god off. I'm pretty sure I didn't, at least! I couldn't have offended a god so much, it would want me back alive so I would re-live my life in a horrible manner, right?

I had to admit, being a baby again had its perks. One of them is that whenever I cry, my father would fuss terribly over me. It was strange, because I never saw my mother and my father was always present. He had a somewhat powering and intimidating aura the first I saw him, but he would always smile at me and care for me. I found out later that my mother must've died while giving birth to me.

I enjoyed spending time with my father, because instead of re-learning everything when I was still a baby would be boring and it would be a drab, I was being taught how to speak and understand Japanese.

Who would've thought I would be reincarnated in an era where seeing people jump and run over roofs as well as being able to walk sideways on a building could be a normal occurrence in life?

It's been about three months since I was born again. How weird it was, to have the mind of an adult, and yet have the body of an infant? I would've been happy with this chance to restart my life, if only I hadn't retained memories of my previous life and the mindset of an average adult.

Nevertheless, I was thankful for this chance. I wouldn't consider myself as lucky, since I know more than anyone that restarting a new life wouldn't mean that this new life of mine would be problem free. Better yet, I might experience even worse problems than anyone in my previous world would.

Since my mind and my body were on entirely different and separate terms with each other, it was difficult living comfortably in my infancy days. I had to struggle with keeping my attention on one object at a time, but it was hard. I found myself attracted to everything, despite that I know everything around me very well. The habit to chew random objects or perhaps throw blocks everywhere when I'm frustrated was also embarrassing.

I struggled with my days as a baby. It was no easy task, trying to keep my adult requirements in mind. My body was uncomfortable, and during the nights I would feel as if something inside the veins of my body are pricking me inside, causing terrible discomfort and annoyance to me. It was frustrating, since my whole body would feel as if I have been bitten by ants.

Aside from that, I also had a hard time re-learning a new language. I was afraid sometimes, because I would somehow think that I might lose memory of my old language and native language, but then I told myself that the woman I know had died. I am now a new person. A new human. I must forget my past life and move on.

If I am to do this, I had to first accept my new family; my father and my older brother, who for some reason, had silvery lilac colored eyes, pale skin, and long hair. And no matter what kind of explanation I try to think of, it still ended up with them being known as weirdoes and hobos.

… Hmm, this might take a while.

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When my father was gone, a woman who I do not know of takes care of me. She had a similar appearance with my father and brother; pale skin, lilac eyes, and dark hair.

She was kind, but I felt no connection or bond with her. She was just like a random babysitter for me, because all she did was feed me, bathe me, and hum me to sleep. I didn't learn much in her presence, except that she hated it when I threw my tantrums.

Well! Excuse me if I can't communicate properly!

I disliked her very much. Every time I would pretend to fall asleep, she would leave the room. Whenever she comes back, she would take me from my crib and pull a smile that looked like the joker's and pretend to play with me.

And I knew when she does this, it meant that father would be nearby. Honestly, I couldn't believe the nerve of her. Annoying woman.

I wanted father to replace her, so every time he would arrive and find me playing with that woman, I would cry as loud as I could and throw a large and noisy tantrum, pointing my chubby fingers at her accusingly and won't rest until she would leave.

I had to do this form of communication for a week before father understood. It was harsh and my throat became dry with the screaming, but it was all worth it to get rid of her.

For a known fact, I only knew about my older brother because I sometimes saw father holding him outside my room, taking him to his personal caretaker. I never saw his face since he was always covered, so when I was carried to my older brother's home, I was ecstatic to find him there.

I didn't know his name, but I didn't care. It was my first time to have an older sibling! I could finally call someone brother or onii-chan as what I was taught in this world. Wasn't that language Japanese? Hm, figures. The house design was pretty weird and the sakura trees around the garden were a dead give-away.

I was placed on the floor with a new caretaker supporting me behind. She was a different person, yet the appearance was similar. She was more dependable and often taught me words using flash cards, which I would absorb like a sponge in my mind.

My brother was standing up on his cute wobbly legs in front of me, walking like a penguin around. Another caretaker, male, was watching with a small smile as my brother walked around like some sort of sumo wrestler.

I laughed at how silly he looked. His attention shifted to me, and he looked at me in slight shock. It was cute how he looked, especially with his wide lilac colored eyes filled with innocence and curiosity.

I smiled. Maybe both of us could become great siblings in the future. I really wanted an older brother to depend on before, and I'm happy I have one right now.

My older brother walked towards me, and I was curious of what he was going to do. A hug? A handshake? Who knows?

Then his chubby hands grabbed hold of the small tuft of hair on my head. He started pulling it, and I squealed in pain while he laughed in joy.

Okay. Maybe not.

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[A/N:] Okay, so here's the re-write of my previous SI OC story, "Silence is Golden" now renamed as "Hush". There's not really a particularly deep meaning to the title, but it just seemed, I dunno, right at the spur of the moment, you know?

What do you think of the story so far? Reviews are love!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**A Baby's Innocence**

It took a few minutes for my older brother to stop pulling my hair off my head and calm him down at the same time.

I was irritated because it hurt, but I at the same time I couldn't exactly blame him. He was a baby, for dear's sake. Unlike me with an adult mindset, he has a baby's mind, which means he couldn't tell what's right or wrong or what's red or blue.

His caretaker was alarmed and scolded my brother. From somewhere along the lines, I heard him say, "Neji-sama!"

Hmm, where have I heard that name before?

It didn't ring a bell yet, but at least I could remember my brother's name; Neji. What a peculiar name. I guess if I'm born in a new family and new culture, I suppose our names would have to relate to our language.

I knew that the word 'Neji' was a name, because of the suffix added at the end. My caretaker let me see a flashcard once and repeated her name, Misora, with all kinds of suffixes. How I knew Misora was her name? She gestured her finger towards her and repeated the word many times for me to get it.

Neji threw a temper tantrum at the spot, but he got over it as soon as his caretaker brought out a penguin stuff toy from the box nearby. He laughed and giggled, biting the poor toy's eyes off.

Ouch.

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I sat on my crib, fiddling with the pillows beside me. I was very bored. My caretaker was busy fixing my room, picking up with all the toys that were littered around on the floor from my tantrum from earlier.

I sigh. Man, I didn't know that being a baby was such a bore. I'd rather watch the shopping channel or heck, even the education channel rather than be stuck in a boring crib.

Four months had gone by. It wasn't as quick as I hoped, and time drawled longer than I expected. My father was rarely seen, and I could only depend on my caretaker whenever I need something.

Not that I'm ungrateful for this chance of new life, but I really don't fancy being an infant. There was only so much a four month year old baby could do. The likes are eat, cry, poop, cry, rinse, repeat. It was such a drag.

But it was still fun. I was able to learn many new things. I already knew how to call my family members in Japanese now, such as calling everyone with proper suffixes or stuff like that. Though, I couldn't say it out loud yet.

I called Neji, 'Onii-chan' and my father 'Otou-sama'. I called Misora 'Misora-san' with respect. But again, I couldn't say these out loud so it was somewhat a waste of effort on my part.

Since Misora could do so much to help me grow, I decided to take things into my own hands. I wanted to move freely, instead of being carried every time something happens. So I made myself learn how to crawl.

It was proved difficult, but I accepted the challenge nonetheless. What would the worth of being reborn into another life be if I can't even crawl? That would be humiliating to all baby legacies everywhere.

The first step was for me to lay still on my stomach. I had that part down. The second was using my arms and knees to support me. I supposed I was too early for crawling, seeing as it was very painful when I supported my own body weight. I was really wimpy.

But it didn't mean I would stop trying. Misora often saw me in my struggle, and made it a point to encourage me. It was silly how she looked, encouraging an infant to crawl into success, but I was thankful for it.

Every day I would try and support my own body weight, and slowly but surely, I was able to support myself on my own. Misora clapped at my success, and I beamed. Now all I had to do was move.

I moved my right arm forward and my right knee forward. Okay, so far so good. My left arm forward and left knee forward. All right, this was fine.

I repeated the process over and over, and soon I had learned how to crawl. Misora was ecstatic at this and jumped around with me in her hold. I appreciated that she was proud of me, but she shouldn't blame me if I ended up barfing out my breakfast because of the dizziness.

So now that I'm able to crawl, I can go to all kinds of places in my room instead of relying on Misora. I was independent woman then, I'm still independent now. Just because that I'm a baby won't stop me.

But I guess I was er, overexcited with my success and tried to crawl all the way to my brother's room. I ended up on the garden, sitting on a random cushion nearby and waiting for Misora to find me because, let's be honest, no one could remember all the hallways of the mansion-wise house I live in.

Misora found me, her whole face beaded in nervous sweat, and I guess she did a double-take when she saw me sitting on the cushion, absolutely calm and rocking back and forth with no care at all. She was shocked for a moment before her face turned angry. She grabbed me and looked at me evenly, scolding me. I felt a bit bad, but I could crawl now! At least I could move on my own.

Half of the words Misora said made no sense to me, but I remembered the meaning of the other words in her sentence and looked down. I stringed the words I could understand, and it turns out that she was looking for me as soon as she realized I wasn't inside the room.

But then again, she murmured another set of words to herself. I then realized that all of her sentences that were directed towards me had a similar word in it; Koemi.

Koemi? Was that my name?

How pretty.

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I sat upright, a small children's book laid open on my lap. It had silly pictures and captions, as well as lessons on how to read them.

Misora sat beside me, giving me demonstrations on how to pronounce them while pointing to the words.

"So-ra. Sky."

She turned the next page and pointed to the picture of the color red splattered on the book. "Aka. Red."

She continued this for approximately an hour. Though, instead of falling asleep in the first two minutes, I paid close attention to my lessons. Soon, I knew a lot of Japanese words. I was proud of myself.

"Sugoi." I thought to myself in my crib. "Amazing."

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I sat there in front of the body length mirror. From the mirror's surface, Misora was fixing the entire room again. I was no surprised. I had a full out tantrum earlier.

What? I can't have a tantrum? So maybe it was because Neji visited earlier and nearly tore Usagi-kun's button nose off, but… don't judge me!

Staring at myself in front of the mirror, I was extremely surprise. My appearance from my previous life was what I expected, but it wasn't. Much like the people living in the compound, I had blank, lilac colored eyes. My hair was the same shade as Neji's and my skin was very pale.

I didn't understand that. Misora and I always spent our time outside the compound, playing in the gardens. I should've had at least a tanner complexion than what I saw. Perhaps it was the genes?

My thoughts were interrupted as Misora picked me up from the ground and carried me in her arms. She walked out our room and out towards the gardens, where two men were sparring.

I had never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life.

There were many types of fighting in my previous life. Boxing, Wushu, and others. But never have I seen a fighting style so graceful and beautiful.

Each hand thrust was precise, each jab was deadly, and both men's eyes were locked on each other. I was shocked to find the veins on their temples bulge out from their skin, and more shocked to find that they were both equally matched for each other.

Though I could tell they were fighting, it looked more like a graceful dance on my opinion. Both of their knees were slightly bent, and each turn and twist they do to avoid an attack or perform an attack was as if they had planned the whole scene out right from the beginning.

"Shinobi," I heard Misora say as she turned towards me. "You'll become one in the future as well."

I beamed at her, but I noted that she had an unreadable expression on her face, as if she had regretted mentioning this to me. She raised me a bit higher and fixed her hold on my small body.

"I'm sorry, Koemi-chan." She murmured sorrowfully. "There is nothing I can do. If only… if only you hadn't been born into the branch family…"

Small tears prickled her eyes. I looked at her, confused. What did she mean? Why is she sorry? Will something terrible happen to me in the future if I am born into the branch family?

Thoughts and questions filled my head, yet no answer was given. I growled in frustration and stared at Misora, who was silently crying to herself.

I looked once more at the two men who were sparring against each other. Both were panting, a sign that they were extremely tired. They bowed to each other, a sign that this fight held no grudges against each other.

But when they locked gazes once more, it didn't seem like it.

The left Hyuuga was glaring coldly at the opposite Hyuuga, who seemed smug and content. I had noticed that the left Hyuuga had bandages on his forehead while his opponent didn't.

I raised my eyebrow. Maybe his opponent inflicted upon him a permanent wound that cost him something dear to him.

Little did I know, that beneath his bandage, was a curse that I was fated to receive once I am older.

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**[A/N:] **Nothing much to say here, except that I am extremely sorry for the late update. :( Classes are such a jerk. I haven't been able to touch my computer for two whole weeks!

Thanks to everyone who has followed/favorited this fanfiction. Strangely enough, I have more than 50 followers yet I haven't even got a review past 10 yet. O.o Is there some sort of mysterious reason beneath this?

**Reviews are love!**

(Send me Fanart so I can give you a huge personal shout-out in the start of each chapter I post! ^_^)


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